A KPI card shows a single headline number - total revenue, active users, conversion rate - optionally paired with a small trend line beneath it and a comparison showing how much that number changed from a previous value. It is the chart type for the one figure that matters most on a dashboard, not a breakdown or a comparison across many categories.

Where does the previous value come from?

By default, if a dimension field is assigned, the current value is the most recent data point and the previous value is the one immediately before it - so a KPI built on monthly revenue automatically compares the latest month to the month before. You can override this by setting a manual Base Value in KPI Trend, which fixes the comparison point regardless of what the underlying data contains.

Do I need to assign a dimension field?

No. The dimension is optional. Without one, the KPI card shows a single static number with no trend line and no automatic previous-value comparison - you would need to set a manual Base Value if you still want a percentage change shown. With a dimension assigned, the measure's values across that dimension power both the trend line and the automatic comparison.

What happens to the trend line if my data doesn't fit the right shape?

The KPI Charts panel - which controls the trend line's type and color - disappears from the Format tab entirely if the data doesn't qualify for a trend line. This happens when no dimension is assigned, or when any row is missing either the dimension or measure value. There is no broken or empty chart shown in this case - the card falls back to a static number display.

What are the trend line's three display types?

Area (the default) fills the space under the line, Line shows just the trend line with no fill, and Bar renders each data point as a thin vertical bar. All three use the same single color setting and respond to the same data - switching types is purely visual.

Can I set the up/down indicator color manually?

Yes, but the up/down/flat direction itself is always determined by the data - either the computed percentage change or a manually forced trend value. Up Color, Down Color, and Neutral Color in KPI Trend let you change what color represents each direction, but you cannot make a declining value show as the 'up' color without manually overriding the trend direction.

Can I style the prefix, value, and suffix differently?

Yes. KPI Value has a Prefix / Value / Suffix switcher, and each of the three segments has its own independent font, size, color, weight, and style. A common use is a smaller, lighter-weight currency symbol prefix next to a large, bold number.

What happens if I don't give the KPI card a title?

If no title is entered, the card automatically falls back to the measure field's name in Title Case - for example, a field named total_revenue displays as 'Total Revenue'. This only happens when there is data to show a value for; an empty KPI card with no data shows no automatic title either.

KPI Card | Edilitics Docs

Show one headline number, with an optional trend line and a comparison against a previous value. Best for the single most important figure on a dashboard.

A KPI card shows a single headline number, optionally with a small trend line beneath it and a comparison against a previous value. Drop one numeric field into Row and, optionally, one categorical or date field into Column. Use it when one number is the most important thing on the dashboard - not a breakdown across categories, which is a bar or pie chart's job.

Total Revenue

$284,500

12.4% vs last period

When to Use

A KPI card answers "what is the number right now, and is it moving in the right direction" - nothing more, deliberately. It strips away every other dimension a chart could show so the one figure that matters gets full visual weight: total revenue this month, active subscriptions today, average response time this week. The optional trend line and previous-value comparison exist to answer "is this good or bad" without requiring a second chart next to it.

The dimension field is optional, but it powers both the trend line and the automatic comparison. Without a dimension, the KPI card shows a static number with no trend line, and a previous-value comparison only appears if you set a manual Base Value. With a dimension assigned, the most recent value becomes "current," the one before it becomes "previous," and every value across the dimension becomes the trend line.

Switch to a different chart when:

You need to show the same measure broken down by category, not as one number - use Horizontal Bar
The number needs to be shown against a target range or threshold, not just a trend - use a Gauge Chart
You need a full table of values, not a single headline figure - use Text Table

Scenario	Dimension (optional)	Measure
Total revenue this month, vs. last month	Month	Sum of revenue
Active subscriber count, trending over the year	Month	Count of active subscriptions
Current average response time, with daily trend	Date	Average response time
Static total: lifetime customers acquired	None	Count of customers
Conversion rate this week, vs. last week	Week	Conversion rate %

Required Inputs

Field	Type	Count
Dimension	Categorical or Date	0 to 1
Measure	Numeric	Exactly 1

For step-by-step build instructions, see Build Your First Chart.

Formatting Options

The Format tab unlocks after the measure field is assigned.

Style

KPI Title is the small label above the headline number - usually the measure's name, but fully editable.

Control	What it does
Show KPI Title	Shows or hides the title. When hidden, no automatic fallback title appears either.
Enter KPI Title	Title text. Maximum 50 characters. Leave empty to fall back to the measure field's name in Title Case.
Font Family / Color	Typeface and text color for the title.
Font size	5 to 30.
Bold / Italic	Weight and style.
Alignment	Left, center, or right within the card.

KPI Value controls the large headline number itself, including independent styling for its prefix, the number, and its suffix.

Control	What it does
Show KPI Value	Shows or hides the headline number.
Prefix	Text shown before the value, for example a currency symbol. Maximum 100 characters.
Suffix	Text shown after the value. Maximum 100 characters. Automatically populated with K, M, or B when Display Unit is set, but you can override it manually.
Prefix / Value / Suffix switcher	Selects which of the three segments the styling controls below apply to - each segment keeps its own independent font, size, color, weight, and style.
Number Type	Default, Scientific, Decimal, Currency, Percentage, or Custom. Applies to the Value segment only.
Display Unit	None, Thousand, Million, or Billion. Scales the number and updates the auto-suffix. Applies to the Value segment only.
Decimal Places	0 to 6. Applies to the Value segment only.
Font Family / Color / Font size / Bold / Italic	Styling for whichever segment (Prefix, Value, or Suffix) is currently selected. Default value font size is 36, intentionally larger than the title.
Alignment	Left, center, or right. This applies to the entire value row at once, not per segment.

KPI Charts controls the small trend line beneath the headline number. This panel does not appear in the Format tab at all if the assigned data doesn't support a trend line - no dimension assigned, or rows missing either the dimension or measure value.

Control	What it does
Show KPI Chart	Shows or hides the trend line without removing the underlying data.
Chart Type	Area (default): line with the space underneath filled. Line: just the trend line, no fill. Bar: each data point as a thin vertical bar. Switching types is purely visual - the same data drives all three.
Primary Color	The single color used for the trend line, fill, or bars depending on Chart Type.

If your KPI card shows only a static number with no trend line visible, check whether a dimension field is assigned. The trend line - and this entire formatting panel - requires dimension values to plot against.

KPI Trend (labeled "KPI Trend & Base Value" in the panel) controls the up/down indicator, its colors, and the comparison value shown next to the headline number.

Control	What it does
Show KPI Trend & Base Value	Shows or hides the entire trend indicator and comparison row.
Base Value	Manually fixes the "previous" value used for comparison, overriding the automatic second-to-last data point. Setting this clears any manually forced trend direction, so the up/down indicator recalculates from the new comparison.
Font Family / Font size / Bold / Italic	Styling shared by the trend indicator and the comparison value text.
Color (via font/color picker)	Sets the color for whichever trend direction is currently active (Up, Down, or Neutral) - the picker targets the live direction, not all three at once.
Alignment	Left, center, or right for the trend and comparison row.

The up/down/flat direction is always determined by the data - either the computed percentage change between current and previous value, or a trend you force manually. Changing the color picker here recolors whichever direction is currently showing; it does not let a declining number display in the "up" color unless the direction itself is overridden.

Best Practices

Decide whether the dimension field should be assigned before building. A KPI card with no dimension is a clean, static number - good for lifetime totals or figures that have no natural "previous period." A KPI card with a dimension assigned gets a trend line and an automatic period-over-period comparison - good for any recurring metric like monthly revenue or weekly active users. Pick deliberately rather than leaving it unassigned by accident.

Use a manual Base Value when the automatic comparison doesn't match the question. The default previous value is simply the second-to-last data point - if your real comparison should be against the same period last year, or against a target, set Base Value explicitly rather than relying on the automatic adjacent-point comparison.

Keep the title short or let it auto-generate. With a 50-character limit and a large headline number below it, KPI Title works best as a short label. If the measure's field name is already presentation-ready, leaving the title empty and letting it auto-fill from the field name is often cleaner than retyping the same text.

Match Display Unit to the number's actual scale. A revenue KPI in the millions reads better as "$4.2M" than as "$4,200,000" - set Display Unit to Million rather than relying on Decimal Places alone to manage a long number.

Don't force a trend direction unless the underlying data genuinely doesn't support an automatic one. Manually forcing "up" or "down" overrides the computed direction entirely - useful for KPIs without a real previous-period comparison, but easy to forget you've set it and end up with a indicator that no longer matches the actual numbers if the data changes later.

FAQs

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KPI Card